FOR KIDS' SAKE, SUPPORT HUFFING BILL

SISTER BAY - If you think "huffing" is just something the Three Little Pigs
had to watch out for, don't be fooled.

On June 29, 2001, my son Aaron Wake died from huffing butane. Huffing,
bagging and sniffing are terms for inhalant use, a cheap and easy way for
our children and young adults to get high.

Parents and adults are out of the loop when it comes to inhalants. Children
discuss it and practice it; adults stay in the dark. Most parents try to
talk with their kids about alcohol, marijuana and date rape, but not about
inhalants abuse.

The numbers are startling. At least one in five eighth-graders has
intentionally inhaled everyday products at the risk of brain damage and
even death Inhalant abuse, most common in the 10-to-12 age group, is also
considered a student's first form of substance abuse before "graduating" to
other drugs.

Assembly Bill 818 has been introduced to the Legislature to make the
intentional misuse of household products and nonprescription drugs to get
high illegal.

Please call or write your state legislator in support of this necessary
law. It will assist our police officers in working with our youth.

For further information, see www.inhalants.org or
www.wisinhalantprevention.com or call Wisconsin Poison Control Center 1
(800) 222-1222.

Laurie Culp